City council should defer any decision on permitting jets and embarking on a runway extension at Toronto’s island airport until after Transport Canada makes a recommendation, a transportation advocacy group says.

“We feel there is a risk of airplanes moving into the lake. People will get too close to airplane operations,” said Gord Woodmansey, a researcher with Transport Action Ontario, which released a report on Thursday on the safety zones at the airport.

“We would like Transport Canada to fully review the proposal before any decision is made,” Woodmansey said.

But Transport Canada has insisted so far that it has not received a formal request to review the Porter Airlines proposal. Porter wants to operate Bombardier’s new CSeries jets from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, so it can expand its flight network to cities like Vancouver or Miami.

Instead, city officials have been leading a review, ordering a series of studies on the expansion plan, with a final recommendation expected by city council in December.

City officials have acknowledged that they are in a highly unusual situation of assessing the Porter Airlines’ proposal, even though the airport’s operator, the Toronto Port Authority, and the regulator, Transport Canada, have not taken a position on the expansion plan.

However, the port authority is footing the bill for the city’s review, paying more than $560,000 in fees so far.

While the city review operates with the premise of not moving the marine exclusion zone – the area in the lake where sailboats, kayaks, ferries are prohibited – Ron Jenkins, a lifelong sailor, believes that’s simply impossible.

“If the end of the runway moves out, the marine exclusion zone would logically have to move. It’s natural that you need to keep planes and boats from meeting,” Jenkins said. “It’s not rocket science.”

When Porter placed the conditional offer for 12 planes in April, CEO Robert Deluce said the only runway extension needed was 168 metres on each end. However, in September, Porter asked that a separate proposal, calling for a runway extension of 200 metres at each end, also be considered.

Before Porter can operate the longer range CS100 planes – which only flew for the first time last month – it must win an amendment to the existing tri-partite agreement that governs the airport’s operations. The city, the port authority and the federal government must agree to lift the current ban on jets and permit a runway extension.

Porter spokesman Brad Cicero called it “an amateur report,” without expert professional review.

Cicero argued that the city’s studies include experts who can attest to safety issues, and Transport Canada will provide necessary information.

“It’s not about where the runway is extended to. It’s about the approach, the path,” he said, adding the jets would have the same touchdown point at the current Q400 turboprops.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.